Union leader: Labour shortage could lead to lost business, jobs in Hungary

The labour shortage in the industrial sector could force multinationals to postpone capacity expansions or take some of their production elsewhere, a union leader warned in Thursday’s issue of daily Magyar Idők.

Zoltán László, the deputy head of union Vasas, told the paper that one multinational recently laid off more than 500 workers at bases in Gyöngyös in northern Hungary and Gödöllő, on the outskirts of Budapest, because it could not find enough labour. The union has learnt of other production units facing the same dilemma, he added.

László estimated that 2,000-3,000 jobs have been lost as companies take capacity elsewhere, while shelved investments have prevented job creation.

He urged immediate government intervention.

Ferenc Dávid, head of the employers’ and entrepreneurs’ association, said a big pullout of companies from the country due to labour shortage is not expected, but some of the production could be moved elsewhere. The postponement of investments, on the other hand, is a real problem, he added.

Reintegrating inactive Hungarians or fostered workers into the labour force as well as offering incentives to Hungarians working abroad to return home could ease the problem, Dávid said. Changes must be made to continuing education programmes and other labour market policy programmes should be introduced, he added.

Foreign guest workers could be a temporary solution, he said.

As we wrote yesterday, almost 25,000 non-EU nationals were awarded permits to work in Hungary last year, around 10,000 more than in 2016.

Also we wrote about crazy wages in Hungary. An assistant professor makes almost as much as a salesman in Aldi. Moreover, they should leave their position because at the Centre of Budapest Transport (BKK) a bus driver’s net income is 200 thousand forints a month, which they could hardly earn even after ten years of teaching, Index.hu said. Read more HERE.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI